John Scofield’s Hollowbody Band (clockwise from top): Scofield, Bill Stewart, Ben Street, Mike Stern.

Musical chameleons have become increasingly commonplace in jazz over the past several decades. Part of it has to do with an explosion in the types of different music to which one has access these days, but the vagaries of the modern music industry also drive musicians to develop eclectic skill sets. Long gone are the days when someone could make a career playing just one style of music. No one embodies the notion of artistic shape-shifting more than legendary guitarist John Scofield.

Schooled in the blues as a teenager, he studied jazz in college and his first professional gigs were with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and trumpeter Chet Baker. This was the 1970s, when fusion was asserting itself as a force within jazz. Scofield was at the vanguard of this fertile period through his work with drummer Billy Cobham and keyboardist George Duke. In the ’80s, he worked with jazz icon Miles Davis and since the late ’80s, Scofield has worked predominately as a bandleader, recording dozens of albums. Over the past decade, he also has become familiar to younger audiences, having toured on the jam band circuit with Medeski Martin & Wood, as well as his own bands. Tonight, he will revisit his jazz roots at The Howard Theatre, leading his Hollowbody Band.

“Last year, I wrote some music that I thought would be good for two guitars, more specific to the jazz area, rather than my other bands that tend to be more electric,” Scofield said during a recent interview with DCist.

The initial lineup of this group, which toured last year, featured Scofield’s usual rhythm section of drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Ben Street, along with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. This year’s tour includes the same rhythm section, but Scofield also wanted to bring his old friend, Mike Stern, on board. Stern is also a Miles Davis alum, and the two had played together quite a bit during the ’80s, but have not had many chances to do so since each became established bandleaders.

“Mike has gotten short shrift for his ability as a jazz guitarist,” Scofield said of his colleague.

From a musical standpoint, tonight’s sets will mainly showcase Scofield’s compositions, which were very much written in the straight-ahead jazz vein. The songs have been arranged specifically for this instrumentation, taking advantage of how the two instruments might blend together.

“WIth guitar, you can orchestrate the music so that it’s almost like a small big band. You can really get these interesting harmonic things happening,” Scofield explained. “With guitar and piano, there’s this strange clash because they’re both real percussive, but with two guitars they blend so well.”

While the arrangements take into account the characteristics that are unique to the guitar, this band is also comprised of four improvisers of the highest order. As a result, each will obviously be given plenty of room to stretch out.

“One of the great things about this music is how we play together and how we react intuitively to each other to play in the moment, in that way that life is when something happens and a vibe starts,” Scofield said. “That’s what hopefully is going to be going on. That’s why I selected these people. That’s their life’s work.”

John Scofield’s Hollowbody Band will play 7:30 and 10:00 p.m. sets tonight at The Howard Theatre. $30.